Berwyn YES or NO... fill me in!!! (Chicago, Cicero: condo, crimes)

[Humboldt1]

Can someone please posts the stats? I am sure some people have better access to the numbers than I.

Ndf,

Are you doubting that income is only a part of the differences? The stats will bear out what I have said. Aragx is right, density is also a factor. It is much easier to steal if everyone doesn't know everyone else. In small rural communities everyone knows everyone else. It is tough to commit crime without being caught.

I still think culture of entitlement is the biggest factor. You can be poor and stacked on top of one another and still turn out okay if you are raised right. You can have all the money and all the space in the world and still end up a rotten human being if you are raised wrong. And a few rotten souls were raised affluent, with space, with good parents. Usually, though, this isn't the case.

Although look at Arkansas and how they have instituted 24 hour curfew to combat crime in spite of challenges from the ACLU in a town of only 15,000. The ACLU lawyer from Little Rock refused to respond to the question "Would you live in this area?"

Aragx6,

Just so you know, one of my best friends is past President of the Missouri ACLU. He and I have lively conversations.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Aragx6,

Just so you know, one of my best friends is past President of the Missouri ACLU. He and I have lively conversations.

i can imagine given your policy prescriptions for population control

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

I would just want to increase the odds of my kids succeeding. I wasn't an Einstein and managed to get into good universities even though I went to a crappy rural high school in southern Indiana where the only AP class offered was Calculus. We literally had no other AP classes.

I believe that what the kids learn at home and outside of school is way more important than what is being taught in the classroom.

Sometimes, I wonder how much the success of a New Trier is based on the school and how much is based on the backgrounds its kids come from. The cold reality is you're going to have a declining number of parents who care about education as income levels decline, so the scores are naturally going to be lower. So I don't know if the odds necessarily increase of them succeeding when you send them to the bluest of the blue ribbon schools. If you're a good parent, you don't necessarily need the highest scoring high school in the country. I'm not saying to send them to Fenger or Tilden on the south side of Chicago, but sometimes people go overboard on this. If you're a good parent, and watch what your kids are doing, they will be ok at a lot of schools.

[cavewoman]

I lived in Berwyn my whole life, but left about 12 yrs ago. However I still have plenty of friends and family still there. I just got goose bumps when I drove down roosevelt a few weeks ago. All the memories.

I think the houses look crowded to me now...cos they are so close. However, being from Chgo. thats not an issue for you. I think Berwyn is close to 50% hispanic now, and sure there are some gangs, not sure what property values have done, my mom sold her two flat for 68,000 way to soon to benefit from the growth over the last 10-20 yrs. I loved the South end by Proska Park The train, Burlington to the City takes 10 mins. There are gangs everywhere, and lots of wanna bee's. Plenty of great private schools too. If you like Berwyn, try LaGrange if you can afford it. Otherwise, to be close to the City, I don't think Berwyn should ever be called "bad".
I tried to go back not long ago., however couldn't get in City Hall. That made me mad, cos I spent 30 yrs in that town. Still know many of the business owners... oh well., we all move on. I say go visit, and see what you feel. I surely miss the food there. no one makes pizza like Salernos. The food there is awesome... from Bohemiam, to Czch, to mexican, even the chinese is awesome compared to anything I found in Rockford, Minnesota or Wisconsin. I am still proud of Berwyn.... and call it my home town. cos that is what it is.

[bearkat]

I have lived in Berwyn 3 years. At the time, real estate agents said how Berwyn was an up-and-coming suburb - it's on the Metra line, and all suburbs there would eventually spuce up. One even had an article about this.

3 years later, I don't see much change, although the situation does not see to have gotten worse. I have gotten the most upset after visiting this forum and reading from some people how things have gotten so downhill.

I live in the "Gold Coast" neighborhood in Berwyn - between Harlem and Oak Park and 16th and Cermak. By and large, folks maintain their property very nicely here. I have been very happy with this. That's a plus! Another plus: the new Walgreens at Cermak Plaza. Also, this "arts community" that is trying to establish itself. I also have seen more young caucasian people walking around in my neighborhood which is interesting.

Some negatives: Since moving in we've had a brick thrown into the rear windshield of our car which was parked in our driveway, someone dumped about two six packs of *glass* beer bottles at our intersection at 3 AM, an armed robbery happened outside our house (I didn't hear it or see it but a police officer came to my door). I guess that's it. Oh, and while cutting weeds at the curb by my house, someone stopping at the intersection spit on me. Nice!

I'm a little pissed at how misleading the realtors were. One neighbor who came by for a garage sale complained of how bad things were, and how his white neighbor was white trash, and how Riverside is next in the Hispanic infultration. Another white family with a baby said that felt that they were tricked but their realtor: right after buying their house, the apartments across the street from them became section 8. Since then the cops are over frequently.

I've also met some professionals and a lot of homeschoolers.

We are trying to sell our house, but right now, it's a joke to try to make a profit. I don't know what to tell potential buyers...is it still getting better?

[BRU67]

Well, if opinions on a message board are different than what you’re seeing actually living there, that should probably raise a red flag. Often, these opinions are from people who see fit to make judgments based on demographics and personal prejudices. I tend to go by what I see as opposed to what I read online.

We’ve been in Berwyn over 5 years now. In my opinion, our neighborhood has improved. Several young professional families and gay couples have moved in during that time and a lot of the houses have been or are being fixed up. I can’t say if it’s like this all over Berwyn but you seem to be seeing the same thing in a different area.

No one has spit on us or thrown beer bottles at our house, and we’re about as white bread as they come. We do not feel unsafe or unwelcome here. On the urban/surburban sliding scale, it definitely tilts towards the urban side (which I consider to be a good thing) but if I felt it was declining, we’d move.

An apartment building doesn’t “become Section 8.” Section 8 refers to HUD Housing Choice Vouchers that people can use at any apartment anywhere. Berwyn only has 106 of them now per the Housing Authority of Cook County. Calumet City, by way of example, has over 950, with a population of 15k fewer people. It isn’t an issue here but I’ve found that “Section 8” seems to have become a code word for African Americans. Sad but it is what it is.

Riverside next in the Hispanic Infiltration? Oh brother . Setting aside the undertones of that comment, you can probably rest somewhat assured in knowing that mortgages are a lot more difficult to get than they were 3 years ago, so I doubt we’ll see as many marginal home buyers as we did earlier in the decade (everywhere). But be very careful about where you go next if that’s a motivating factor in your decision. Unless you can spend $500k plus in a very well established suburb, you will probably remain vulnerable to demographic changes. If gas prices stay high, and the back to the city movement continues, presently all-white ex-burbs are going to see demographic shifts, like it or not.

I don’t suppose Berwyn realtors are any worse than Chicago realtors trying to sell Humbolt Park as “West Bucktown,” heh. But never solely rely on a realtor man. That’s the first lesson in Home Buying 101. But if I were asked that question, I’d comfortably say the community has a good future.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by bearkat

One neighbor who came by for a garage sale complained of how bad things were, and how his white neighbor was white trash, and how Riverside is next in the Hispanic infultration.

I think perhaps they meant North Riverside, which is a different town than Riverside? Or River Grove? I don't think Riverside is changing much any time soon. Home prices are still pretty steep there.

In the 1980s all kinds of academics were predicting that Oak Park would be majority black at some point in the 1990s. Of course, that didn't happen, and Oak Park's black population has been pretty stable around 20% or so for many years. And of course, a lot of black Oak Parkers are doctors, lawyers, and college professors.

Who the heck spit on you?!? Was it a homeless guy or something? I don't even see stuff like that in Uptown.

[bungalowdweller]

Berwyn Police Blotter gives the latest info on crime happenings in the town. There is No question that there has been an upsurge of crime in Berwyn. On the other hand, people like Bru have moved to Berwyn in the last decade. There have been improvments in the town but it is going through a rough patch. So is Forest Park for that matter.

Urban communities have changed tremendously over the past 20 years. There is no question in my mind that Berwyn is not as safe as it was even 13 years ago. But Berwyn is not alone. River Forest has seen a 23% increase in crime in the last year.

And as for Riverside, there has been an influx of section 8 housing in the larger apartment buildings. Also there are many blocks that are nothing but rental and the landlords are renting to anyone who has a pulse. It is true that housing prices have remained high but it is also true that for the past two years,little to nothing has been selling in Riverside. The demise of its downtown is a major issue with homebuyers. The homeowners are in denial and will have to lower prices dramatically if they wish to sell. Riverside is no longer seen as the cat's meow because of the demographic changes around it.

Recently the pols in Riverside have announced that if the homeowners don't vote to approve tax increases, the pols will close the Riverside recreation department. This doesn't bode well for any town.

The entire fabric of the near west suburbs is in a state of flux. One day Berwyn will be highly desireable. I think that the best that can be said of it right now is that it's "Mixed" in terms of it being up and coming. In this economy NOTHING is up and coming right now. I've lived in this area over 20 years and have been a real estate investor long before it was the "thing to do." I know this market VERY well and will say that right now although things may not look as great as you like, Berwyn is still a respectable investment. It is Affordable and has an excellent location. You could do much worse.

[Lookout Kid]

Crime in Oak Park and River Forest has been up this summer, like everywhere else. But overall crime in both communities is much lower than it was in the 80s and 90s. Oak Park has less than HALF the crime it had 20 years ago.

[BRU67]

Berwyn's changed a lot in the past 13-20 years. Remember, it was a very old community by the 1990s. The population increased from 45k in 1990 to 54k by 2000 with the same housing stock, largely because small elderly households were replaced by young families. Of course it's less quiet than it probably was a decade and a half ago, though the current population size is actually more in line with historic norms (the population in 1960 was even larger than it is now). Some of the change was good, some of it probably not so good. Regardless, it was inevitable that it would change. No community can remain in stasis.

I think it's well poised to become a very desirable community. People just have to stop thinking the sky is falling and living in a past that’s never coming back and work towards ensuring that changes going forward are positive. Its diversity is a good thing. That’s something the city didn’t really have much of before. And I still don't think that it is unsafe (not to beat a dead horse but the crime rate is substantially lower than Oak Park). And there are a lot of good people moving in with new ideas. A lot of them are proactive, and involved in trying to improve Berwyn. There's a lot of energy here, and it should pay off over time. That's something I'll go out on a limb on and guess it didn't have 20 years ago.